Plans and Preparations

" - Holly, eleven inches long, nice and supple, and containing the feather of a particular phoenix that resides within this castle."

"Fawkes?" asked Harry, bewildered. He suddenly realized that there were others in the room with him, causing him to blush slightly in embarrassment.

"Yes, Mr. Potter, it was Fawkes that provided the tail feather for your wand. He gave just one other feather . . . just one."

Harry nodded solemnly, not at all oblivious to the way Rita Skeeter had begun frantically writing upon her notepad, nor the way the other three champions, as well as the respective headmasters and headmistress, suddenly seemed incredibly attentive.

"However, I regret to inform you that the bond you share with this wand is slowly diminishing."

Harry paused.

"Could you repeat that, please?"

"Your bond with this wand is weakening. Given time, it will no longer remain the ideal wand for you. At this given rate, you may find it to be unsatisfactory in a few years, perhaps slightly more. It should not be a problem during the tournament, however."

Harry could almost feel Rita Skeeter's quill running against her parchment. Thankfully, Dumbledore intervened.

"As I believe Mr. Potter here is the only one whose wand needs to be looked over, you may all leave. Mr. Crouch, Mr. Bagman, I would request that you remain behind."

The others within the antechamber all nodded, although Rita Skeeter looked thoroughly put out with the arrangement. Once only the five of them remained within the room, Ollivander began to speak.

"A bond is typically weakened when a witch or wizard has changed a significant amount. A wand is made of several components which, to a certain extent, represent their owner. When this is no longer as true as it once was, the bond begins to weaken."

"So you're saying I'm no longer selfless, or something?" asked Harry.

"You study wand lore?" asked Ollivander, seemingly impressed.

"I thought I'd look through the basics." said Harry, "It might give me a slight edge over the competition."

Dumbledore seemed slightly disappointed with Harry's answer, though Harry didn't particularly care at the moment.

"I would suggest that you are changing in ideals and beliefs." said Ollivander, "Although there is something else occurring as well, something rather with how the wand seems to react to magic. It is almost as though you have two magical sources within you, and one is beginning to grow more and more aware of the other - that is the only way I can describe or explain the wand's reaction to magic. Perhaps your magical core is damaged, I do not know, but it will likely take care of itself."

Harry had absolutely no idea what Ollivander was talking about. He was not sure if the same could be said for Dumbledore. The eyes of the old man had become slightly curious and calculating, before acting as though nothing had happened.

I'll have to talk to Salazar later. It might just be my Mage core, Salazar said it was mutated.

"But I don't have to worry about it?" asked Harry curiously.

"It appears to be taking care of itself." answered Ollivander, "It is to be expected, of course. Most problems with such things tend to fix themselves - one of the many luxuries of magic."

Harry nodded, still somewhat intrigued.

"You should be more than capable of using it through the rest of the tournament." declared Ollivander, "Your wand will not get any harder to use for the next few years at least. However, I would like to request that you visit me during one of the coming summers, so as to create a new wand for yourself if it somehow gets worse."

"Is there anything else of importance, Garrick?" asked Dumbledore, turning to the wand maker. Ollivander shook his head in the negative, before handing Harry his wand back.

Harry bid the four men farewell, before departing from the antechamber. It was now lunch time, judging by the sudden plethora of students that crowded the halls. Harry set off towards the Owlery. Now was one of the few instances when Hedwig was not in the chamber with him, and he therefore wanted to check on her. Even if Salazar had told him that she would not yet undergo the stasis, he just wanted to be sure.

"Well, if it isn't the champion!" said a voice from just behind him. Harry turned around to find Ron and the other fourth year Gryffindors. They must have returned from a class they had been taking together.

Harry ignored Ron; he was not particularly in the mood for any of his dramatics at the moment.

"What, too afraid to talk about how you cheated to - " began Ron.

Harry pulled his wand out from beneath his robes, nonverbally performing the silencing spell. He left Ron and the others where they stood, ignoring the looks of shock on their faces. He was much more interested in finding Hedwig than dealing with them.

.....

Fleur got up from her bed, moving towards her desk instead. She was finalizing her plans for the first task, something she was certainly not looking forward to.

After careful consideration, she had decided upon using her Veela nature to her advantage. She would be using a charm to modify her allure, causing those pulled by it to fall asleep instead. She would also have to modify the allure to effect the dragon, as she was fairly certain the creature would be female.

Fleur was glad to have learnt that they would most likely not be fighting the dragons; in the past, champions were told to retrieve an object from the creatures. She hadn't ignored the fact that most creatures would guard said objects with their lives, but it was certainly better than nothing.

During one of her recent visits to the Hogwarts Library, she had spotted Cedric Diggory doing research on dragons.

He clearly is not very good at cheating.

The action did, however, mean that Harry Potter had told the Hufflepuff about the dragons. Fleur was not entirely sure if she understood that, considering that she had seen most of Diggory's friends antagonizing him, but it was not her choice. Besides, she was sure she would be rather upset if someone decided against telling her about the dragons; as far as she could tell, Diggory himself had been kind to the boy. If he wished to return the favour, that was his choice to make.

She was not particularly certain how either of the Hogwarts Champions would fare. She had already decided that Potter would likely be last, regardless of any talent he might have. There was simply too much of an age gap, too much knowledge that he did not yet have access too. The magic he held had not yet mature, given the fact that he was only fourteen - his magical strength was unlikely to compare favourably with their own. A few performances of accidental magic would certainly not save him from a dragon.

The older Hogwarts Champion did not seem like too much of a threat either. Although he was likely talented and hard working, he seemed to lack the desire to win that the others had. She could not truly say much to him yet, having not yet seen him in action, but she was certain that she would be his better.

Victor Krum, she had concluded, was likely to be her biggest competition in the tournament. He was clearly powerful, and just as determined as she was. Fortunately, she was certain that her magic was more powerful and controlled than his, though that was likely due to the amount of time the former put into his Quidditch work. It was not likely that he would have been able to work much on his magic.

Regardless, Fleur still fancied herself slightly above her competition. Each of them lacked a critical component, be it experience, a desire to win, or being too involved in something else. As far as she could tell, she had no such weaknesses. Her weaknesses involved the people she loved, few though they were. There was water as well, though that was more of an annoyance than anything else - it was not as though she drowned every day trying to take a bath.

Fleur sat down within an ornate chair, picking up the letter on the desk. It had been sent by her mother a week after the selection ceremony. Fleur planned on framing the letter; she loved how proud her parents had been of her accomplishments.

.....

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